The five-year-long Youth Business Europe (YBE) programme (2015 – 2020) was an ambitious partnership between Youth Business International (YBI) and Citi Foundation, designed to tackle the prevalent problem of youth unemployment in Europe.
The programme was designed to increase the number of vulnerable youth successfully starting sustainable businesses and creating new jobs. Through targeted country-level projects selected and implemented under a strategic learning agenda and rooted in cross-sector collaboration, the programme layed the foundation for a youth entrepreneurship ecosystem in selected countries across the region.
Our regional approach enabled 11 YBI member organisations to work closely together and share knowledge, best practices and methodologies with the aim of tackling youth unemployment in Europe, Russia and Kazakhstan.
Over the course of the programme, 11 members supported more than 38,000 young people to:
YBI members were able to expand their offerings and forge valuable new connections, and Citi employees reported multiple benefits from their involvement in the initiative.
Find out more about the programme and its impact below:
Citi Foundation Supported YEP member Aliança Emprendedora to strengthen its network of partner organisations that allowed scaling the programme across Brasil and funded three research studies on effective strategies for scale, effectuation methodology and the digital landscape for youth entrepreneurs.
Over the course of the programme, 11 members supported more than 38,000 young people to start or strengthen 11,000 businesses and 8,000 new jobs were created. YBI members were able to expand their offerings and forge valuable new connections, and Citi employees reported multiple benefits from their involvement in the initiative.